The Grand Finale
by BeautyUnderneath
Summary: Not all tricks end well. Not all stories have a happy ending. Jack Wilder was not supposed to actually crash. But all it took was one second. No character death.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Now You See Me**_**.**

* * *

_He remembered what they had said. "Jack it'll be easy. Just stick to the plan."_

Jack Wilder huffed a pain-filled laugh. He watched the agents come sprinting towards him, Dylan Rhodes in the lead. He suppressed a groan as he struggled to unbuckle his seatbelt. Unfortunately the car crash hadn't exactly gone according to plan. Jack had actually lost control of the car he was driving and it had flipped. Several times.

Dylan Rhodes gritted his teeth as he raced towards the overturned car with flames licking at the sides. He couldn't even make out the form of magician Jack Wilder. He didn't even care about the evidence anymore; all he cared about was getting the kid out of the burning car. Panting, he wrenched open the door, crawling halfway into the car, ignoring the orders from the other agents.

"Dylan, get out! Leave him! He's dead!" Agent Fuller yelled.

Dylan frantically pressed the seatbelt buckle, growling in frustration as the buckle stubbornly refused to unclick.

"Here" Dylan looked up in surprise as Alma handed him a small pocketknife. Dylan didn't even bother to thank her and savagely sawed through the seatbelt.

"Hold on kid," he muttered as the last few threads finally snapped.

Dylan grabbed Jack's body, shifting his weight back as Jack slumped lifelessly into his arms. Alma grabbed Dylan and with her help, he managed to pull Jack free of the car just as it burst into flames.

Dylan reached over and pulled the folded sheet of papers from Jack's limp grasp.

"He needs an ambulance" Alma looked up at Dylan. He knelt next to Jack, using one hand to roughly caress Jack's hair.

"Kid."

Jack coughed, a wet, heavy cough, as his eyes weakly fluttered open.

"D-D-Daniel?" Jack shuddered and his eyes rolled back.

Alma watched worriedly as Dylan swore softly under his breath and sirens began to wail in the distance.

* * *

**A/N: Well, please tell me how you liked it! And I apologize for it being so long to create a new story! And please remember, this is just a prologue, so there will definitely be more to come!**


	2. Chapter 1

Dylan Rhodes ran alongside the gurney, trying to avoid the doctors and nurses clustering around it. Jack Wilder lay unconscious, an IV already in his arm and blood staining the white sheets on the gurney crimson. The paramedics had cut away his shirt and removed his black leather jacket, exposing the bruises, cuts, and blood on his chest. Dylan shuddered to think of the damage done inside, especially to the kid's ribs, if the bruises were anything to judge by.

"How is he?" Dylan snapped, trying to catch someone's attention.

"I'm sorry sir" Dylan turned to find a nurse calmly pulling him away as the hospital staff wheeled Jack away.

"What the hell?! I'm supposed to-"

"Dylan!" Alma cut him off, "I've been looking for you everywhere. Where the hell have you been?!"

"Not now!"

"Yes, now! Don't ever tell me to wait in the car!" Alma retorted.

"Oh god, not this now" Dylan ran a hand over his face.

"Yes this _now_" Alma glared.

"Fine. I will never tell you to wait in the car," Dylan grudgingly conceded, wishing for what was certainly not the first and probably not the last time, that Interpol had not gotten involved.

Alma simply glared at him and spun on her heel.

"I'm here with Jack Dray" Alma said calmly to the nurse.

"Are you a relative?"

Alma nodded and the nurse handed her a form attached to a clipboard and a pen. Both women completely ignored Dylan, who was standing to the side with a shell shocked look on his face.

"If you'll just fill this out please. A doctor will be here shortly with news of Mr. Dray's condition."

"You lied" Dylan said accusingly and and looking rather surprised as he followed a triumphant Alma over to the waiting area.

"So?" she shrugged.

"So?! You lied! You're not supposed to lie!" Dylan threw his hands up.

"Neither are you" Alma said softly.

"What?"

"You are not supposed to lie either" Alma said more confidently.

"What do you mean by that?" Dylan hissed, doing his best to sound angry.

"I mean what I said."

"Crap." Dylan sighed sank into the chair next to Alma, causing the blond woman to look up in surprise.

"How'd you know?" he asked softly.

"Know what?" a small frown wrinkled her forehead.

"Never mind."

"What?" Alma's accent became more distinct as her tone grew sharper.

"I-I'm part of The Eye."

"Are you serious?" she asked.

"Yeah. My father was the magician. The one who drowned. I was initiated by The Eye once they found out who I was."

Alma stared in shock at the FBI agent.

"Really?" she placed a gentle hand on his arm.

"Yeah. Really" Dylan sighed, his head in his hands.

"Mr. Dray?"

Alma stood up, ending their conversation, followed by Dylan.

"May we please see Jack?" Alma faked (or at least Dylan thought she was faking) a concerned expression.

"Follow me, please."

"How is he?" Dylan asked as he and Alma followed the doctor.

"Mr. Dray has several bruised and fractured ribs. His left arm is also broken and he has a concussion. He's sleeping right now, so please don't wear him out."

* * *

**A/N: I promise more Jack hurt in the next chapter! I just wanted to sort of set up the story. The Horsemen will also come in the next chapter! Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: ***** sighs * seriously?**

* * *

Dim light. Blurry colored things that looked suspiciously like flowers in one corner of the room. Soft blankets. And pain.

Jack slowly blinked his eyes open, wincing at the sharp, antiseptic smell that assaulted his nose.

"Jack?" He groaned, hearing a heavily accented and rather worried French voice to his left.

"Jack. Wake up" there was another voice, this one stern and commanding.

The room swam into focus and Jack realized whom the voices belonged to. Concerned Interpol agent Alma Dray and a cross FBI agent, Dylan Rhodes were standing at either side of his bed, looking down at him.

"What do you want?" Jack muttered.

"Where are the other three Horsemen?" Dylan growled, completely ignoring the warning look that Alma gave him.

"In…an apartment" Jack murmured and paused to swallow hard, "in…the city." As though he realized what he had just said, Jack fell silent, turning his head away from the agents. However, Alma noticed a single tear make its way down Jack's cheek. She swallowed, feeling nothing but pity in her heart for the magician.

Alma glared at Dylan, motioning sharply that she wanted to speak to him out in the hallway.

"Don't go anywhere." Dylan snapped at Jack before following Alma into the hallway.

"What the hell was that?" Alma demanded.

"The hell was what? We got what we needed" Dylan shrugged, about to push past Alma and go back into the room. Instead, he was stopped by Alma planting her hand on his chest.

"He is in pain, Dylan! He is just a child!"

The FBI agent had nothing to say to that and only looked down at the floor like a chastised schoolboy.

* * *

While Alma was reprimanding Dylan, three shadowy figures crouched on the roof outside Jack Wilder's hospital room.

"Hurry up" Daniel Atlas impatiently shifted from foot to foot.

"I'm trying" came Henley Reeve's hissed reply as she endeavored to pick the lock on Jack's window.

"I'm sensing…"

"Shut up McKinney. We don't have time for your bullshit right now!" Daniel snapped, straining to keep his voice down. Merritt promptly punched Daniel in the arm, prompting the showman to grimace and raise his fist in retaliation, before Henley's quiet voice stopped him.

"Got it!" came Henley's triumphant whisper.

She stepped aside and Merritt knelt, using his shoulder to force open the window. The three Horsemen slipped into the room, not forgetting to slide the window shut behind them.

"Jack?" Henley asked softly as she settled in a chair beside Jack's bed and took his cold hand in her warm one.

"H-H-Henley?" Jack's voice came out as a weak and stuttering whisper and even Daniel felt his heart constrict at the vulnerability in the sleight's voice.

"Shhh…we're all here, even Danny" Jack grinned slightly, knowing how much Atlas hated that nickname. He allowed his eyes to drift closed, feeling safe now that the rest of the Horsemen were there. Within less than a minute, he was fast asleep.

"He has a fever," Henley reported softly, brushing a light hand across Jack's slightly damp forehead.

"Here, use this" Daniel handed her a cloth, damp with cool water from the sink in the bathroom adjacent to Jack's hospital room.

Henley tenderly smoother the cloth over Jack's forehead, biting her lip when Jack sighed in relief and turned into her touch. She left the cloth draped over his forehead, breathing a silent sigh of relief that Jack was sleeping and hopefully spared the pain.

"What now?" Merritt asked softly.

"The Eye didn't give us any instructions on what to do if we got caught" Henley and Merritt both turned to Daniel, who shrugged helplessly.

"Why do you think I know?" he asked.

"Weeell…" Henley drew out the word.

"Well what?"

"The "enlightened" speaks" Merritt drawled.

"Shut up Buddha" Daniel growled.

"Alright Danny, Merritt, get yourselves a room. We need to figure out how to get ourselves out of here" Henley spoke up, mentally rolling her eyes at her companions' immaturity.

Just then, the sound of voices reached their ears and the three Horsemen scrambled to hide as the door opened.

"Well. Looks like we don't have to go looking for you." Dylan Rhodes stood silhouetted in the doorway, Alma Dray next to him.

The three Horsemen looked up, Daniel immediately pulling his "look-at-me-I'm-so-innocent" look, Merritt raising his hands slightly, and Henley staring with her mouth wide open.

* * *

**Me: I am SO incredibly sorry for not having updated. Life has honestly been hectic (although I know that's not an excuse). From now on, I am going to sincerely do my best to update every week or so. As always, I would love and appreciate to hear your comments! I am also suffering a slight writer's block, so if you have any ideas, please leave a review or PM me!**


	4. Chapter 3

The three Horsemen slowly stood up, each keeping a wary eye on Dylan Rhodes as he quietly closed the door.

"So I suppose I should arrest you…" Alma frowned at Dylan's bluntness and obvious lack of tact.

"What are you doing here?" Alma asked quietly.

"Jack." All three Horsemen gestured to the bed where their younger companion lay.

Alma nodded, "Dylan, don't you have something to say?" she prodded the FBI agent. Dylan nodded, taking a deep breath.

"This was supposed to come after your last show," Dylan paused, "welcome to the Eye."

There was a stunned silence as the Horsemen stared at Dylan in shock. Alma shifted awkwardly, as the silence persisted, broken only by the beeping of Jack's monitor.

"Just for the record, I knew that" Merritt muttered.

"Y'know, I don't think I've ever seen Henley speechless" Daniel said, regarding the escape artist. It was true; Henley was staring and moving her mouth silently, obviously trying to say something. Dylan smiled, the smile quickly turning to a worried expression, as there was a sudden cry from the bed. All of them turned to see Jack feebly twisting, the sheets entangled around his body. The Horsemen raced to his side, Daniel pinning his wrists to the bed and Henley anxiously pushing back Jack's sweaty hair and hushing him. Dylan had already run out to find a doctor, Alma close behind him.

"Jack, please! Relax!" Henley pleaded as Merritt and Daniel struggled to wake the sleight.

Finally Jack's eyes flew open and he gasped, panicked eyes darting around the room, as if searching for something. Henley fell back a little, startled at the terror in Jack's brown eyes.

"Where…where…" Jack choked.

"We're right here, Jack. It's okay" Merritt soothed him.

Jack collapsed against Daniel, trembling as tears began to fall, soaking into Daniel's shirt. For a moment Atlas stiffened, and then he wrapped his arms around the younger man and held him tightly as he sank down onto Jack's bed.

"Shhh…Jack. It's alright" Daniel looked up as the door opened and a doctor rushed in, followed by Dylan.

"Jack…" Daniel tried to ease him back, but Jack only let out a strangled sob and clung tighter to his idol.

The doctor cupped his hand to Jack's forehead, trying to coax him into opening his mouth for a thermometer. Jack finally opened his mouth and the doctor quickly slipped it in, frowning at the readout when the thermometer beeped.

"103.6 degrees. I'm going to give him a sedative, at this rate I'm not sure if there's much else we can do for him right now. Mr. Dray simply needs rest."

"Dray, why-" Daniel started to say before Merritt elbowed him in the ribs.

Daniel held Jack tighter as the doctor carefully rolled up the sleeve of Jack's hospital gown and injected the sedative. Henley bit her lip worriedly as Jack winced, his fingers tightening around Daniel's shirt.

"Call me if there's any change" the doctor said softly, before he left.

"Dylan, what do we do now?" Henley turned to Dylan helplessly.

"Jack…go to sleep" Daniel rubbed soothing circles on Jack's shivering back.

For once Jack tried to obey the gentle command, but his eyes kept slipping open.

"I-I-I can't," he whimpered. Alma sat next to Daniel.

"Let me" she murmured. Daniel shifted Jack to Alma's arms, the sleight surprisingly unresisting.

"Au clair de la lune. Pierrot se rendort. Il rêve à la lune, son cœur…" Alma sang softly, Jack's sobs fading to cries and then to the occasional whimper. From his position in the corner, Dylan watched as Alma sang to Jack, thinking of how wonderful and lovely a woman Alma was and then berating himself for thinking that. After all he was supposed to be the mastermind behind this show and control everything. Jack slowly drifted off, sleep finally catching up to him.

"That was beautiful," Henley said softly as Alma lowered Jack onto the bed, Merritt stepping forward and helping her to cover Jack with the blankets.

"Thank you. It was a lullaby my mother used to sing to me" Alma replied, gently tucking a lock of Jack's hair behind his ear.

"Why'd you say his name was Dray?" Daniel asked Dylan, out of curiosity.

"Actually it was Alma's idea" Dylan responded, shooting a small grin at the Interpol agent. She gave him a sweet smile in return.

"Well I may still be the smartest guy in the room, but I am certain that Alma is the smartest woman in the room" he smirked at Henley who rolled her eyes in exasperation. Honestly, couldn't Danny see that Dylan liked Alma?!

"We'll leave when Jack's better" Dylan turned his attention to the Horsemen, "I've already found an apartment for you guys."

* * *

**Me: I think there will be one or two more chapters and _maybe _an epilogue. Thank you to everybody who has reviewed, followed, and favorited this story! You guys are the best! As always, please, please feel free to leave a review or constructive criticism!**


	5. Chapter 4

Daniel groaned, rubbing his sore and exhausted eyes as he stretched. Dozing in an uncomfortable hospital chair for three hours was really not good for the back. Especially not his. Dylan had offered the Horsemen their new apartment, but all o the Horsemen had refused, instead wishing to stay with Jack. He looked over at his companions, Henley curled like a cat in another hospital chair opposite Jack's bed, Merritt slumped with his hat over his face, Dylan seated against the wall with Alma resting her head on his shoulder, and of course Jack in the hospital bed. Daniel smirked, almost tempted to take a picture with his phone; Jack really did look younger and much more innocent asleep.

As Daniel stood up, he noticed Jack press his lips together tightly, and roll over, arms wrapped protectively around his middle. Continuing to stretch, Daniel glanced over at Jack again, as the sleight quietly whimpered and his lashes fluttered against his pale cheeks.

"Jack?" Daniel bent down and shook the younger man's shoulder, but to no avail. Jack stayed firmly asleep, obviously trapped in a nightmare.

"Henley! Merritt! Wake up!" Henley stirred, sleepily blinking open her eyes. Merritt sighed, pulling his hat off his face and shifting himself to a vaguely standing position.

"What 's it?" Henley asked, still half-asleep, while Merritt just glared at Daniel as if to say that the showman had better have a damn good reason for waking him up.

"Jack. He's not waking up!" Henley was out of the chair in a flash, bending over the bed and frantically trying to wake the still sleeping Jack.

Jack's eyes flew open and he sat up with a terrified gasp, almost hitting Henley in the head as he jerked upright.

"Jack, it's just us," Daniel said as Henley murmured, "what was it about?"

Merritt just rested a comforting hand on Jack's back, saying nothing.

Jack shook his head, turning fully away from the three very worried Horsemen. Henley gently caught his chin and turned him back to face them.

"Jack…" she said softly, "we all have pasts. Daniel has his, I have mine, Merritt has his, and I know you must have yours."

Something in Henley's kindly tone made something break in Jack and the sleight slumped forward, his head buried in his hands.

"You don't need to know mine" Jack muttered.

"Jack…" Daniel warned gently.

"It-it-it was just my father…he-he was mad at me for running away. He came after me with a few of his friends" Jack paused, his voice growing even softer as he continued, "and they-they beat me and left me in an alley. I barely made it out alive."

Jack shivered, curling back into himself. Henley had her hand against her mouth, tears shining in her eyes. Merritt rubbed circles on Jack's back, feeling how tense the young sleight's muscles were. Daniel looked at the floor, for once unsure of what to say. After a minute he settled for an awkward pat on Jack's shoulder as Henley wrapped her arm around Jack's shoulder.

"Jack…I'm so sorry" Henley whispered.

"'s not your fault" Jack smiled shakily, looking so painfully innocent that Henley almost burst into tears.

"I'll be back," Daniel murmured as he slipped out of the room.

* * *

"The doctor said he could leave tomorrow," Daniel reported as he came back, not noticing the fact that Jack had fallen asleep. Henley turned from her position on the bed and made frantic hushing motions with her hand and Daniel gave her a slightly remorseful look before repeating what he had just said in a quieter voice.

Henley's shoulders sagged in relief at that and her face lit up in a smile. She turned back to Jack and tenderly smoothed back a stray lock of hair that had fallen against his cheek.

"I just feel so bad" she said softly as she stood up and turned towards the window. Daniel came to stand behind her, almost tempted to put a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"I know. The poor kid" he responded.

"He is a kid. No kid should have to live through that" Henley spoke with conviction and Daniel wasn't sure whether it was just the city lights reflecting or tears in Henley's eyes.

"We're going home tomorrow" Daniel said softly, "get some sleep. I'll watch Jack."

* * *

**A/N: Once again, thank you to everyone who had read, reviewed, favorited, and/or followed this story. This is the second-to-last chapter of this story. As always your constructive criticism and comments are greatly appreciated! **_**Special shout-out to mandamichelle! Thank you for your review and I hope I have satisfied your request!**_


End file.
